Fear or Fun- a reflection on how I have got to where I am now

Over the years my focus has shifted from downhill to more trail/ enduro riding, Where as once I looked forward to conquering that next jump, drop or bigger feature and enjoyed that feeling of your heart pumping and the gut wrenching feeling of fear, the feeling has been replaced by a feeling of stress, frustration and anger as my tolerance to that feeling wore out, and I hit a plateau in my technical ability.

Back when racing the Local downhill series was the main focus

How has this come about I often ask myself? I doubt very much I couldn't do the larger features demanded of downhill, I know full well that my body could, when I accidentally come up to a bigger jump/drop on a blind trail my instincts take over and ill pull it off no issues at all as my muscle memory takes over and for that moment there is no room for fear as you have to do what's required.

It really is all in the mind that the barriers come up, Its very difficult to over come the emotional fear and anxiety for ever and eventually becomes tiring, alongside this riding should be fun, enjoyable, an escape from all that's stressful in your ordinary life.

Exploring the beautiful place we live in search of single track and escaping ordinary life with friends

Not only are the barriers based on pure fear not too many years ago I was so confident, I had trained so hard for Ard enduro, raced it, loved it, had the best summer of riding, loved the bike I was on and was ridding fast, hard and jumping with confidence, then one day practising for a race I came off on a jump and hit my head, I thought that's OK I'm having too much fun I’ll do anther run and everything will be fine. It was an amazing run I nailed all the jumps and was so smooth and fast and elated and then had the dumbest crash on the end fire road and hit my head again, by the time I got to the van I couldn’t see properly, hear properly or even use my phone, at no point had I blacked out but I had rattled my brain hard and over the next 2 days things got worse and by Monday I couldn't stay awake, walking down the stairs was exhausting to concentrate on, finding my way to tesco’s in my home town was like walking round a foreign country. After 10 days thing were OK and I was back to work but it took a few months to fully recover. Seeing the effects of concussion on riders like Lorraine Truong and katy Curd has made me so aware of how lucky we are to recover from each concussion but they are cumulative so it’s with good reason the my brain wants to stop me doing dangerous things!

A significant photo for me from the weekend I had the crash that gave me the concussion

At this point riding is engrained into my life and I will never been one of those people who rides really hard and then quits the sport and looses interest, I’m hear to stay, but where does that leave me, we all want to progress all the time, on social media we see everyone doing such impressive jumps, pushing themselves but for the average person who loves bikes its a lifestyle that doesn't have to include racing or being the best. We all share those fears too, most weekend warriors probably feel the same, sometimes I think this makes me inadequate but then I have the best time when I push my body hard up that climb, ride an amazing flowy bit of single track and see that view and think my god this is what it’s all about, not that other stuff. This is what makes people good ambassadors of the sport and this is what I would like to share, its OK to be your best and the have the funest time and allow riding to enhance your life so you can escape the every day on your own terms.

Happy days spending time with the local girls on a Southern Ladies MTB ride

Not to say I wont be racing, I enjoy it and for as long as I’m not holding anyone up I will continue to race but on my own terms even if the achievement is finishing or seeing everyone and riding a trail that's usually out of bounds.

Girls at Gawton 2017

All of the girls listening tentatively to MTB bike coach Tony Williams.

Back for the second year this all female event held at Gawton Gravity hub was just as popular as last year with over 30 women entered, seeing some old faces and welcoming a lot of new faces. The weekend followed the same format with coaching and uplift on Saturday at Gawton's purpose built downhill tracks and mates race or “cake race” as we call it being held at our chip shop site on Sunday. Thankfully this year we had beautiful sunshine all weekend and with the camping and the event being set in the rolling hills of Devon near Tavistock.

There were many comments on the beautiful surroundings at the local campsite set in the Tamar valley

Creating the event originally was about giving the girls a chance to try something new without having the pressure of worrying about holding up the men or feeling like they were being watched or judged. Although this year we had a lot more experienced riders the event still had that same vibe, being female exclusive was really laid back and supportive with so much positive energy. The range of skill was great as it showed the less experienced riders the path of progression and gave them the confidence to do what they had never seen other girls ride before.

Hannah going full attack on the Properjob steps before unfortunately crashing and breaking her collar bone

“Thank you, Laura and team, for organising I really enjoyed it. Thank you also to all the ladies for being really welcoming and supportive and for guiding me down Proper Job! Feeling much more confident with steep cornering now and may even give Supertavi a go next time and never thought I’d say that!” - Leslie

Local rider Janet storming the rock garden on Proper Job whilst being coached by Tony from evolve MTB

Throughout Saturday we had coaching sessions led by local mountain bike coach, Tony Williams From Evolve mountain bike. Getting the beginners going and teaching the more experienced riders more technique on jumps, drops and cornering everyone was fired up and getting hungry to try the harder downhill tracks that Gawton has to offer. After a break in the uplift and a spot of lunch, some of the girls were ready to try the infamous Super Tavi. The former Dirt 104 track was as dry, dusty and welcoming as it would ever be. Leading our groups was local BDS and BES rider, Heather Kay. On Saturday we saw a lot of the girls really pushing their limits and trying features and tracks they wouldn't have before.

There was a great standard of riding and a good number of girls gave the infamous Super Tavi track ago

Towards the end of the day this year we used our newly built pump track to host the pump track challenge, built by local legend Jasper Flashman it was the perfect end to a day of riding showing who truly has the skills. Although a supposedly friendly competition things got fierce between the competitive girls seeing a fair few crashes and even chainless 4x bikes coming out to prove who truly was Queen of the pump track.

The Pump track challenge claimed a couple of victims, Gemma was determined to turn that DNF into a winning run

For a fair few of the girls, Sunday's cake race in the format of a downhill race with practice in the morning timed runs in the afternoon was their first ever competitive event. The chosen course was a good mix of everything including steep, rooty, jumps with chicken lines and plenty of features in including a ladder drop but with so many enduro girls they soon found an enduro line through the shrubbery to avoid this and straight line. To give the beginner girls the confidence and reassurance to try their first race we encouraged self-seeding and very relaxed start times. We have found this to be a very successful approach in our local race series woodland riders winter series, applying this to the women's and rippers category last year we reached almost 20 entries in the women's category for the easier rounds.

Not one to shy away from a challenge Charlotte took part in her first ever mountain bike event giving it full focus

The races was on and the girls competitive streak came out again, whether it was beating their own first run time or riding a section that was pushed the time before, the fight was real to win the main prize of teddy bear cake, It was a close fight between enduro girls; Heather Kay, Liz Gath and Anna Cipullo. Liz took the win beating Heather by 0.3 of a second with Anna in 3rd by just 0.6. Unfortunately, a couple of girls were out of the afternoon's event due to injury sustained in practice so we wish them a speedy recovery.

Podium winners of the cake race getting a celebratory selfie

A huge thanks to event sponsors Red brick cycles for their mechanics, Tony from evolve mtb for coaching, Fly up downhill and woodland riders racing for all your support.

We were very fortunate to have the Orbea Rallon V5 on Demo from event Sponsors Red Brick Cycles

Join the Facebook page Girls at Gawton for updates on next years event.

Southern enduro champs - Exmoor

Southern Enduro Champs was the first race of the year for me, having just moved house I was not as prepared as I usually like to be, as everyone know moving takes forever, having spent the whole day packing my car I headed off in beautiful sunshine. Driving towards Minehead the view was incredible, being so close to the Bristol channel the National park has a beautiful sea view back drop.

On arrival I set up my car for sleeping in and settled down with some beers to catch up with everyone, that's one of the great things about racing is the chance to catch up with all of your race buddies who you wouldn't normally get to see. Not only that there are always new people to meet.

Posing with the Orbea Rallon in front of the Bristol channel backdrop

Setting off for practice on Saturday we headed out of the race village up a very long and slow climb, we'd been advised by the locals to ride the furthest stages first and work our way back. Our first run was down stage 2, the hardest stage, it was steep, off camber and loamy, every corner gave way as you rode into it so was difficult to gauge speed and how hard to push, then came a super steep loamy corner that was near vertical, we watched several people crash into the tree on the outside line and several crash into the non existent berm at the bottom. Having decide we weren't taking the slow line we had to do it. Having passed that section with relief it didn't get much easier and we all made it down the rest of the stage with a mix of terror and nervous excitement.

Laura Griffiths - Proudly posing post race in my new flare clothing kit with my Orbea Rallon

Following that stages 3 and 4 mellowed out a bit but both were tight with off camber multi line sections, plenty to get caught up on if you ended up on the wrong line, thankfully there was a great singe track transition bringing some relief and smile compared to some of the arduous fire road climbs on other transitions. Headed back towards the race village stages 5 and 6 were both freshly cut super loamy with off camber corners but not so steep, despite not being so steep there was plenty to get caught out by which resulted in me face planting into the loam and having a mouth full. Much to the amusement of my friends. Moving on from that and a couple more brown pow hip slides later practice was done and the only thing on everyone's minds was stage 2. debating if we should practice again we decided against it, other riders had said it was changing every hour so it probably wouldn't be the same by race day. Not only that the climb was mega and we didn't want it to become more of a nemesis if we had a fall on it.

The smile say just how much fun Southern endure champs was

So after another great nights sleep in the car helped along by some rum and good banter the night before I was up and ready to race. Still glorious sunshine we headed out, stage one was a great run but stage 2 caught me out where I didn't expect to have any issues, in fairness I lost it on one of the loose steep corners so it wasn't an underrated crash site. I fell hard on the ground with one cleat still in so wriggled around trying to get detached from my bike. Without any thoughts I jumped up and grabbed my bike but the force from the tree had twisted my handle bars on my steerer so my front wheel faced sideways, with no time to do a proper job on it I straightened it between my legs and jumped on and kept going, my googles also still covered in dust. I still had to face the steepest part of the course tentative on the front of the bike knowing the steerer was loose and peering though my googles trying to see what I could.

Recovered from stage 2 the rest of the day was a lot less eventful and in places I rode well but knew I wasn't riding my best, I tried to keep focused and look up but I didn't have that flow or get that buzz when you know your riding really well. It's taken me years to conquer my race nerves but I'll never be a natural racer. The best I could do was keep a clear mind and enjoy the day for what it was,  great trails with great friends. I always enjoy race weekends despite my inability to put a good time down and I usually finish with a respectable time so I'll turn my attentions to the next event and make the most of that too.

Strava, mountain bike training rides and meteors

Admiring the view on Drewerstone whilst getting a great shot of my flare clothing jersey for the website

Its getting to that time in the year where training for for the enduro season is getting serious!

I've sat and written my training plan, worked out how many base miles I need to do, when to begin  weights and the dreaded intervals.

Currently in the plan I'm working on increasing my road and mtb base miles. As somebody who gets bored easily I've taken it as a time to do some exploring. Where I live I have so much access to trail centres like Haldon, Cardinham and my local woods Cann but I am also lucky to live on the edge of Dartmoor national park. 

I've only explored Dartmoor once and it was miserable and depressing on a cold winter day when I didn't know how to hike a bike so nearly knocked myself out every time, was lacking in food so got hangry and ill prepared for how unfit I was! Optimistic to give it another chance I decided I would turn to strava as my guide. 

Picking my way through the rocks on the rocks on the pipeline descent trusting the Rocky mountain Altitude will get me down safely

The great thing about Strava is you can get a sense of distance, descent and climb gradient and see who rides which segments that enjoy similar riding to yourself. 

Browsing Strava I have always seen the pipeline decent around Shaugh Prior. Determined to find it I headed out having screen shot the route on my phone so I had something to follow and match my GPS image too. This works surprisingly well!

The route has some interesting segments which really live up to their name such as "too rocky to ride up?" which so far has remained just that but i'm certain I will conquer it one dry day in the summer. "Climb for the views" which speaks for it's self and is not wrong at all!

Carrying my bike up a section just after too rocky too ride up

Sometimes it's hard to get the motivation to go out and ride on your own on a winters day but with the training plan in mind I force myself out the door . I always find or see something inspiring or new, sometimes even just meet a stranger who you have a great chat with riding the cycle path. 

Yesterday I got lucky tho, I was on the most exposed part of the ride up on the moors and I saw this weird really big bright orange light in the skyline, I was just starring at it because it was so odd, I had all the usual thoughts, a helicopter light, the sun, the moon but it didn't look like anything I'd ever seen before. All of a sudden this trail of dark smoke started coming out of it and the it just disintegrated! I tried to get my phone to film it but I just could stop staring at it! It was definitely a meteor!

It's days like that I wonder how many moments I would have missed if I was sat at home staring at my phone or the TV and not out there seeing the world. Although the training plan can feel like a burden in reality it's a great motivation to explore where I live. I've never come back from a training ride and thought I really wish I hadn't done that, so next time your lacking in motivation get out there and you never know what you might find!

Heading out onto the moors from drewerstone

Exciting news - Flare clothing Ambassador

Laura Griffiths  - showing off my rocky mountain altitude and flare clothing jersey

I haven't blogged lately because I've been apprehensively waiting for the response to ambassador applications, racing the woodlands winter series and organising Southern ladies MTB events.

So my main news and most exciting is that I will now be riding for Flare clothing co alongside my other sponsors for 2017. I applied for the ambassadorship alongside some others and this is the one I really wanted. I have always thought Hannah and Bens clothing is gorgeous. I love how colourful and individual the designs are and they fit my style so well focusing on the trail, enduro and downhill market. 

I'm really excited to be racing and riding in their clothing next year and eagerly awaiting my 2017 team jerseys. I truly believe in Flares code of ethics to be sustainable in their manufacturing process, support British made and their beginnings as a women's clothing brand who have spread into the men's market.

https://flareclothingco.com/

In other news I have a new team mate. The lovely Beck Parker from Run. Ride. Write has joined forces with my fab sponsors Red Brick Cycles and Race.co and will be racing the British enduro series alongside myself in 2017. As well as racing enduro together I'm so excited to have someone to train with, bounce ideas off each other and create more social media videos and photos. 

http://runridewrite.com/

In my last blog I talked a little bit about my aims for winter training and entering the Woodlands winter series. I'm very proud to say that in the first round there was a lot of tough competition with an amazing 16 girls entered I managed 4th place. As usual 4th is a bitter sweet finish being just off the podium but with some incredible podium winners I couldn't have been happier. 

Not only was it great to have competed and done so well it was the first time many of our Southern MTB Ladies had competed in a downhill race. It is truly inspiring to see how many women in our local area are ridding to such a high standard and just putting themselves out there and giving it a go. I truly am proud of all of the girls. Not only those who are racing for the first time but those who overcome their worry of group riding and take the leap to come out and join us. 

Keep checking back to see what adventures 2017 brings x

Laura Griffiths racing my rocky mountain altitude to 4th place at Gawton gravity hub

Selfie with new team mate Becky Parker from run . ride. write

Southern ladies MTB ride H.S.D

Summary of the Enduro Season

So I set my intention this year to race all of the UK Enduro Series.

I raced Triscombe beginning at round 2 which was an amazing experience. I Loved the stages which were very steep and technical. The racing distance pushed my fitness and my racing mentality was nicely falling into place. My only disappointment was riding on the side of caution a little too much and letting seconds fall away off my times. I was happy to come n second place in my category but knew here was work to be done so trained harder for Round 3.

Rocky Mountain Ambassador Laura Griffiths at the Uk Enduro Series Triscombe

After the controversy of Round 2 of the UK Enduro Series settled down aka a cancelled stage due to a stolen timer and another cancelled stage due to extreme "enduro lines" thing didn't get much better.

Fully trained fit and ready for Round 3 in South Wales I was saddened to hear on the Wednesday of that week the event had been cancelled and rescheduled for another date due to a family emergency of the organiser. Still never to be the rescheduled event never took place either and the entire series was cancelled. Leaving i it's wake a disaster of no refunds for riders, unpaid venues and unpaid staff.

Having planned my whole season around the series I was obviously disappointed and my training took a bit of a turn. Searching for an aim I turned toward the Southern enduro series for something to keep me motivated.

Looking up and focused railing berms at Milland Southern Enduro 

Tidworth was the Venue for Round 2 of the Southern Enduro Series. Having never ridden there or taken part in one of their events I had no idea what to expect. Turning u on practice day it was Hot, humid and dehydrating. The push up was short but intense and the stages down were a mix of jumps, slippery berms and short sharp climbs. The stages were hard to master as its dusty or hard packed chalk which our maxxis minions set up for Devon mud made it even more of a struggle.

After having a word with myself that a bad attitude was only going to make things worse I decided to get focused and embrace it all. By the next day I was looking forward to the race and with the build up of atmosphere with all the racers I was looking forward to the day.

I finished the event in 4th having really wanted a podium but I knew I had pushed it too hard and my racing was messy and reckless after my frustration at being to relaxed in my last race. My focused shifted to achieving a balance in my race craft and attitude at racing.

Laura Griffiths getting ready to pedal the final stretch to the finish line at Milland Southern Enduro

Round 4 of the Southern Enduro series was at Milland in Sussex. This was a ladies special organised by Scott to get more girls racing. The event promotion with a huge success with 26 Women entered.

After riding the first to stage I couldn't have been happier. The Rocky Mountain Altitude felt amazing, the stages were an absolute dream. Muddy, flowy a great mix of technical steep sections with fun jumps. All of the stages were so much fun I didn't have a Favourite and it was great to meet so many new girls.

The competition was tough as there were girls who had won other series and raced in the British Enduro Series but I kept my cool and focused and rode really well and felt I had my race craft fully under control. Only making a couple of mistakes I was so happy to come in 5th out of 13 beating some tough rivals.

Although my year didn't go as planned I have met so many great people, loved representing Rocky Mountain on the race circuit and refined my skills. Next year my target is to race the full British Enduro Series but before that is the Woodland Winter Series. Not being my main discipline I aim to use the downhill series to work on my race perpetration and skill.